


Change of Command

by Caivu



Category: Batman (Comics), Batwoman (Comic), DCU, DCU (Comics), Detective Comics (Comics)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Related, Cemetery, Continuity Nods, Gap Filler, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 14:31:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17469383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caivu/pseuds/Caivu
Summary: An expansion to Kate Kane joining the Colony in Detective Comics #975, starting from the cemetery scene in that issue and continuing on.Fills in some later information, and especially describes how Simon Samuels decided to follow her command.





	Change of Command

The cemetery was cool and windy, with a subtle electric hum in the air. Though it was technically spring, leftover fall leaves scattered around Kate Kane's feet. Her wool-lined coat flapped against her legs, the left pocket weighed down by a stone.

It was her birthday today, which meant, as it had for years, that it was marred by death. That of her mother Gabrielle, at whose grave she now stood. Another year closer to outliving her.

Her eyes closed, Kate tried to meditate on Gabi, but it was difficult. The last time she had seen her mother's face, it had been on the receiving end of a rifle stock. Later, a canvas sack had hidden the bullet wound, the bruises and fractures from hours of torture. Even without a traditional burial, her casket would have been closed.

It was an unfair final image. Where was the laughing mom who had only wanted to treat her daughters for their birthday? Kate knew there was still fear toxin in her system from the Sahara; was that causing problems?

 _No_ , she thought. _That day had enough horror on its own. It doesn't need help._

A sour taste filled her mouth: the memory of the hard-boiled eggs eaten after the funeral. She shook her head and opened her eyes. The sun had moved noticeably lower since she had arrived at the marker.

_Just talk to her._

She sighed. Why not? It might help.

The headstone looked red through her sunglasses.   
  
"Hi, Mom," she began.

The wind was her only reply.  
  
"I'm sorry..." she continued. "I'm not good at this kind of thing. And I know I don't do it as often as I should."  
  
It was true; she had been every year on the anniversary, and nothing would ever change that short of death, coma, or capture. But even that seemed too little. A tragic death was... more deserving, somehow.  
  
"I made a decision last week that's poised to blow up my life a little bit," she continued. "Not that my life isn't _used_ to blowing up... but this time, it feels different."

She took a deep breath as the wind howled low.

"I... killed a man," she continued. "I can't say he was a  _good_ man... but he was a man  _trying_ to be good."

And he had been. She may not have especially _liked_ Basil Karlo, but he had been a valuable member of the Knights in spite of the great struggles he faced with his condition. What the Victim Syndicate had done to him was unfair, and monstrous.

But that changed nothing. He had been a threat, and she had stopped him.

"I did it to save a girl I care a lot about," she said.

She still felt the punch Cassandra had hit her with immediately afterward, the one that had blackened her whole eye even through the mask. Still felt how Cass had ripped through a layer of body armor as if it were paper, all just to tear her batsymbol off, and the disturbing thought of if it had been _her_ instead.

But no. For better or worse, Cass was no killer. That was, in part,  _why_ Kate cared so much for her. And why she still would even if Cass never forgave her, or never understood.

Kate straightened her posture. "But what's been haunting me... it hasn't been the killing. It's been  _her eyes_. The eyes of the girl I saved. The way she looked at me."

The words came easier.

"I  _know_ those eyes. I've seen them before. They're the eyes of someone who just  _broke._ They're the eyes I saw in the shovel the day I buried you here."

She saw those same eyes now.

"I remember taking the shovel. It was so clean. So polished. Dad wanted me to go first, but I couldn't move."

Furious, broken eyes in a warped reflection.

"I felt like putting the dirt on the grave would make it all _real._ And it was like losing you all over again."

The image of herself, so young, faded.

She bit her lip, briefly. "The only thing that helped was thinking about becoming something that would _stop_ what happened to you from happening to  _anybody_ else."

_by killing them all killing them all you wanted to kill them all_

_Be quiet._

"And my whole life, I've known what that's meant. I've known what the rules are." She sighed. "But I'm starting to think I stepped off, and walked in the wrong direction."

She clenched her fist.

"And it's time to get back to who I am. The mission that started _here_ , with a shovel in hand, all those years ago."

She put a hand on the headstone.

"I'll make you proud, Mama."

She felt a bit lightheaded. Had any of that made sense? Was it all a ramble?

 _Tell her the good news, too._  
  
She sniffed and stepped back a pace. "Hell, maybe I already have," she said. "Just the past year. Training a new generation of vigilantes. I helped stop a terrorist group, helped save the city... I don't even now how many times. And then..."

She swallowed.

"And then there's _Beth_. God, Mom, I wish you could see how well she's doing," she said. "She's under observation at Gotham General right now, but she should be cleared for private treatment soon. And when she is, I'll take care of her. Remember how Dad always said that? 'Take care of your sister.' I'll do it, as long as she needs."

She felt tears welling in her eyes. Her left hand gripped the stone in her pocket, smooth and cold.

She took a deep breath and gently set the stone on the grave marker. She did indeed feel better now.

"It was nice talking to you, Mom," she said. "I'll be back as often as I can, I promise."

She waited a moment. Then, head bowed, she turned and walked slowly away.

\----

Her spirit felt solemn, but light, on her way back to the front gates. Jacob stood there, waiting. They had not come here together, but Kate was not surprised to see him.  
  
"It's good of you to come on the anniversary-" he started as she walked up. As if it were in question.  
  
"You should talk to her," Kate interrupted.  
  
Jacob sighed. "I probably should," he said, also as if it were in question.  
  
Kate studied him a moment. The aloofness, the feigned emotional distance... her father was anxious. He hid it well, of course, and she may not have spotted it had she never made the decision to emulate his personality... but he was anxious. And she knew it was about what she would say next, even considering his status as a fugitive.  
  
She removed her sunglasses. "I've been thinking a lot about your offer," she said. "To come with you and run the Colony together. To do it right."  
  
She noticed her father hold his breath. "And?" he asked.  
  
Kate looked him dead in the eye.  
  
"I'm in," she said.  
  
Jacob exhaled in a thin sigh, almost lost on the light wind, and nodded.  
  
"Then let's get started," he said.  
  
He raised an arm straight up and waved in a large horizontal circle a few times: assemble.

With that, several aircraft seemed to melt into existence as they de-cloaked high above their heads: helicopters, jets in formation, and above all, the enormous Colony Airship One. It was a show of power, a flagrant disregard for any authority that might be hunting the Colony's remnants. But a disrespect to Batman most of all.

 _One chapter closes_ , Kate mused, noting the appropriateness of a cemetery at sunset. _And a new one opens soon._


End file.
